


A Night at the Schnee Manor

by idontbelieveinmountains



Category: RWBY
Genre: First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, clover: you're gonna love yourself or so help me god, i just want him to be happy ok, yes i'm a slut for qrow ships don't @ me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:06:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21825640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idontbelieveinmountains/pseuds/idontbelieveinmountains
Summary: Qrow has a hard time dealing with a fancy dinner party with everything else going on right now. Clover is there to help.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 16
Kudos: 185





	A Night at the Schnee Manor

The Schnee Manor was the last place Qrow thought he’d end up when him and the kids landed in Atlas, and he couldn’t exactly say he was comfortable. With Jaques on the council, Ironwood on edge, and Robyn Hill stealing supplies for Mantle, the tension in the air could practically be eaten with a spoon. He watched as Weiss tried in vain to teach his nieces proper etiquette, while also having to navigate through issues with her father. He felt bad for the poor kid. Raven was a handful, but at least she kept to herself most of the time. Qrow was utterly out of his element, fancy dinners weren’t exactly something he grew up with. As soon as he was able to, Qrow quietly removed himself from the table and snuck off to a quiet corner of the enormous mansion. 

He found a secluded hallway with ornate portraits and big windows looking out into an impressive garden. The broken moonlight shimmered off of a pond surrounded by flowering bushes. Qrow marvelled at how beautiful the world could look even when reality was so ugly. His nervousness about everything was making it very difficult to keep his semblance under control. Every minute at that table was a disaster waiting to happen. The presence of red wine at the table wasn’t helping things either. 

“You doing alright?” said a voice from his right. Qrow came out of his daze to see Clover moving to stand beside him, both looking out at the garden. 

“Yeah,” he lied, “just needed to get away for a while.” 

Clover cocked his head and put a hand on his hip, “Something tells me only part of that was true.” Qrow sighed. The two hadn’t known each other for very long, but Clover seemed to have an innate ability to see right through Qrow’s bullshit. It was annoying, but also forced Qrow to open up more about himself. Opening up was scary, but good for him. Above all, it was nice to have someone his own age that he could call a friend. 

“There’s a lot on the line tonight, I just don’t want to be the reason for things spiralling out of control.” He finally said. 

“You won’t be.” Clover said, taking a step closer. His voice was softer than normal, it made Qrow’s heart skip a little. He had been out of the game for so long that any little bit of reassurance Clover gave him was overwhelming. He wasn’t used to people outside of his family treating him so nicely. Clover was the first person in a long time to make Qrow feel truly wanted, and he was grateful for it. But all of those compliments made it real hard not to fall for the man. Still, Qrow wasn’t entirely convinced. 

“I was there, at the fall of Beacon. I remember all of it, the tension beforehand that we all tried to ignore. The grimm looming on the city’s borders. I remember how it all seemed to fall apart at once, and even the strongest of us were powerless to stop it. To stop _her._ It was chaos, Clover.” He stopped to catch his breath. The other man simply looked on with a concerned expression. Qrow continued, “I almost lost my nieces that night. I lost Oz too. Afterwards, everyone was scattered in different directions with no way of contacting each other. I was the only one left to pick up the pieces. This is all just starting to feel too familiar. And I can’t help but think...what if it’s me? It’s like she’s following me around, targeting whatever kingdom I’m in. Maybe I’d be better off doing solo missions like I used to.” Qrow hadn’t noticed, but his entire body had gone completely stiff. His fists were clenched at his sides, and everything was silent for a few moments. Then Clover took Qrow’s hand.

“Qrow, none of this is on you. And even if it was, that wouldn’t matter. Your nieces, Ironwood, they all want you here. _I_ want you here. And I don’t care about any bad luck I might have to deal with as a result, none of us do. You’re loved, Qrow.” 

_Loved_

Clover was gazing right into his eyes, into his soul. Qrow just looked back in shock. Sure, Clover had off-handedly flirted with him a couple times, but nothing like this. He couldn’t stop the blush from rising in his cheeks this time. Clover gave a reassuring squeeze, and Qrow squeezed back. Clover’s hold grounded him, kept him from flying off into his own headspace where no one could reach him. 

“I’m scared, Clover.” He admitted. 

“I’m scared too. Ironwood...he’s not making it easy to follow orders right now. Everything is uncertain and it’s difficult to know who to trust. But I do know that I can trust you. We’re partners now, and we can look out for each other. That’s enough for me.” Clover said. Qrow couldn’t quite believe his ears. Before he could stop himself, he brought his free hand up to cup Clover’s face, leaning in to bring their lips together. It was soft, and tender. Clover let go of Qrow’s hand to wrap an arm around his waist. Clover was so gentle with him, he really wasn’t used to it. When they pulled away, Qrow spoke. 

“I’m glad to have you here too.” he said. Clover smiled, and Qrow smiled back. It was the first time he had felt truly calm in what felt like years. The serenity of the garden outside had finally made its way into Qrow’s dusty old heart. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so strongly about another person. No one had ever treated him like this before. “What do you think happens, if we make it through all this?” he asked.

Clover pondered, “I don’t know. But maybe we should try to make it through dinner first.”   
Qrow laughed, a proper laugh. A laugh he had not experienced in a very long time. “Alright, but if Jaques Schnee ‘accidentally’ stabs himself with a fork, my semblance had nothing to do with it.” 

Clover chuckled, “Sounds good to me.” And they walked hand-in-hand back to the dining room.


End file.
